Pon-lor
Cohort Leader Pon-lor was an Apprentice Thaumaturg mage, of the 7th Rank.Blood and Bone, Chapter 1, UK MMPB, p.75-76 He was pale and had long hair. He briefly lived on the streets of Anditi Pura, having been abandoned by his parents, before being brought in by the Thaumaturgs to become an apprentice. He rose high enough to be considered promising by Golan, despite being overlooked for promotions as he lacked family connections that his peers did not. In Blood and Bone Pon-lor was tasked with finding a missing Yakshaka soldier - Hanu - by Commander Golan before the Army of Righteous Chastisement had left the Kingdom of the Thaumaturgs. The detachment that Pon-lor was given to help with this task consisted of twenty men, including Overseer (i.e., sergeant) Tun. After the first three days of searching Pon-lor was met by the bandit Jak, who claimed to have been attacked by a witch - Saeng - who had Jak thought had enslaved a Yakshaka. Jak claimed that he could take Pon-lor and his men to the site of the attack where there were witnesses.Blood and Bone, Chapter 2, UK MMPB, p.137-142 Jak led the party up a treacherous jungle path, where two of Pon-lor's guards fell, while a third was attacked by what Jak claimed to be a jungle cat, taking them to Chanar Keep.Blood and Bone, Chapter 5, UK MMPB, p.276-289 Chanar Keep was revealed to be a trap, of which only four of Pon-lor's command survived, while he, himself, was shot in the lower back by an arrow. However, the trap relied upon the use of Jak's accursed relatives to attack them and so the curse was easily dismissed by Pon-lor because it had been instigated initially by the Circle of Masters - thus causing the accursed to crumble into dust.Blood and Bone, Chapter 5, UK MMPB, p.290-299 After leaving Chanar Keep, Pon-lor was shortly left with only one guard, Toru - the other three having succumbed to wounds and illness. Pon-lor and Toru continued onward, however, trekking down into the Jungle of Himatan, still intent on finding the missing Yakshaka. Pon-lor experienced a waking dream showing an ancient human sacrifice, something of which his histories had given no indication, before the two were ambushed by Jak and his bandit band. Because of this, Pon-lor's last guard was killed. Pon-lor woke up from a blow to the head, finding himself captured by the group of bandits. Pon-lor finally realised Jak's identity as the "Bandit Lord". Pon-lor decided to bide his time before escaping and/or killing his captors, as he thought that staying with Jak's group gave him a far better chance of actually finding the missing Yakshaka and its abductor.Blood and Bone, Chapter 7, UK MMPB, p.384-396 Pon-lor put up with some degradation while captured, while trying to ingratiate himself with one of the bandits, Thet-mun. Saeng was captured by the bandits, who threatened her life in order to control Hanu. Pon-lor decided to attempt to question Saeng before he took back the Yakshaka himself.Blood and Bone, Chapter 9, UK MMPB, p.515-530 This plan was interrupted however when the bandit group was attacked by locals. Hanu took advantage this by picking up and carrying off Saeng - after she was shot by a poisoned arrow while trying to magically hold off the attackers. Using this distraction, Pon-lor also escaped the attack, although he had also been shot, in the arm, by one of the poisoned arrows. Pon-lor convinced Thet-mun - who had followed him - into tracking Hanu and Saeng for him. Thet-mun was able to give him a paste made of local flora in order to absorb the poison from the arrow wound. Pon-lor shortly had Saeng in his custody, having saved her life by healing her wound. But Pon-lor's attempts to convince her to come back with him to Anditi Pura along with Hanu - when what she wanted most to do was to find the Temple of Light - was unsuccessful. Pon-lor was determined to get his way and tried using his, theoretically complete, control over Yakshaka. However, Hanu was able to overcame his conditioning to be able to choke Pon-lor - only stopping when Saeng asked him to stop.Blood and Bone, Chapter 10, UK MMPB, p.534-544 Pon-lor came back to consciousness, with Saeng and Hanu gone, only to be abandoned by Thet-mun. Pon-lor thought that he did not need Thet-mun as much now - both because he was able to sense Saeng's aura and because he felt better able to distinguish some of Hanu's heavy tracks through the jungle. In the end, however, Pon-lor eventually lost Saeng's and Hanu's trail.Blood and Bone, Chapter 12, UK MMPB, p.639-645 Because of this, Pon-lor became extremely lost in the jungle. When crossing through some ruins, he heard voices seemingly coming from statues, claiming the return of Kallor. After this, he hit his head, badly damaging it - after which he came to realise that Saeng's claims that the Circle of Masters were actually attempting to bring down a Jade Stranger were true.Blood and Bone, Chapter 13, UK MMPB, p.693-698 Pon-lor was able to continue on, but only because of his Thaumaturg training. Ignoring the flesh as he had been taught, also gave him an entirely different perspective and allowed him to see a path of convergence because one of his eyes - which had been badly injured - had developed special vision. After arriving at the Temple of Light, Saeng was beset again by Jak and the bandits, who gravely injured Hanu. Pon-lor appeared in time to kill them all, and to promise that he would heal Hanu. Pon-lor then tried to prevent the Circle of Masters from completing the deadly ritual that they had begun.Blood and Bone, Chapter 14, UK MMPB, p.762-769 Pon-lor managed to kill or incapacitate four of the Masters, but in the meanwhile, the other five had arrived and Pon-lor was nearly killed by the Prime Master, Surin. Pon-lor was saved by Hanu while the remaining Masters died trying to control the extraordinary energy released by the interruption of the ritual.Blood and Bone, Chapter 15, UK MMPB, p.782-788 After he left the temple - which collapsed - Pon-lor lost both his sense of self and his consciousness, as further complications of his head wound. Saeng found Pon-lor outside the temple, and not having the power to heal him herself, bargained to have him healed by Old Man Moon.Blood and Bone, Chapter 15, UK MMPB, p.805-807, 818-821 Pon-lor was partially healed by Old Man Moon but still lost an eye and ended with an odd shape to his head.Blood and Bone, Epilogue, UK MMPB, p.838 Together, Saeng and Pon-lor set off, heading back to the devastated Thaumaturg lands to help in creating a new beginning there. Guards under Pon-lor's command :* Overseer TunBlood and Bone, Chapter 2, US HC p.100 :* HarunBlood and Bone, Chapter 5, US HC p.207 :* Lo-senBlood and Bone, Chapter 7, US HC p.271 :* MeleshBlood and Bone, Chapter 5, US HC p.210 :* ToruBlood and Bone, Chapter 7, US HC p.271 :* VayachBlood and Bone, Chapter 5, US HC p.207 :* unnamed troopers Notes and references Category:Humans Category:Males Category:Thaumaturg Mages Category:Jacuruku natives